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 Topic: Camping fridge (upgrade from coolbox)
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25/3/2021 at 3:26pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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Joined: 17/9/2015 Diamond Member 
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Life is full of compromises, so here's where you decide what can give a little (or lot!)!
The only truly silent fridge is an absorption type (generally known as 3-way fridges, Gas-12v-240v) as they have absolutely no moving parts. I think most on the market are based on the Dometic unit (just re-branded), which is around 46cm deep though! Do check for yourself as not absolutely up to date with current models. Bonus is you can buy them new for £200 upwards, or s/h from about £60, which is a bargain for a circa 40 litre fridge.
Compressor fridges have motors and fans, and whilst some claim to be quite, there will be some noise when the motor/fan is running, what is acceptable when you are sleeping next to it is down to individual tolerances. Rather than the hopefully slight motor/fan noise itself, which you may become accustomed to, it's likely to be the switching on and off under thermostatic control which causes a change in background noise that may be most noticeable if in close proximity. Variety of sizes available that may fit your external dimension requirements, but a bit pricier at £350 upwards and rare as hens teeth s/h, and internal capacity can be really quite small on the more compact models, possibly impracticably so for a 5 day camp if not expecting to shop, depends on what perishables you store and if you like your white wine/beer chilled!
On either an absorption type, or compressor type, forget any notion of running it off a 12v leisure/car battery alone, they are fine when used in a vehicle with the engine running, but the absorption type will kill a battery in hours, and the compressor type may stretch to 2-4 days depending on battery capacity and ambient temp before battery too drained to run it.
You'll hear all sorts of pro and cons for each type, "absorption fridges can't cope with heat in south of France" etc., which is tru(ish), but they work perfectly well in UK and northern Europe! Compressor fridges can freeze down to -20C, true - but do you want a fridge or a freezer, only the bigger ones have separate compartments that to a degree allow use as both at the same time!
I've got a 3-way fridge and wouldn't be without it, the flexibility of 3 power sources tops the (unused freezer) performance of the compressor fridges for me, if the price of them dropped significantly, I'd buy one IN ADDITION to my 3-way for when I didn't need gas option, but not as a total replacement.
If you want to run a 3-way fridge on GAS, it MUST be in a well ventilated area like a tent porch NOT in the confines of main tent, as high risk of Carbon Monoxide poisoning from exhaust fumes, also flue needs to be well clear of anything, like tent walls, susceptible to heat. There used to be a 3-way fridge version that took CP250 style gas cartridges if you didn't want to use a Calor type cylinder. Neither type is weather proof, so both need shelter from rain etc.
Hope I haven't sown the seeds for a 'domestic dispute' in fighting over who/where compromises are made!
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25/3/2021 at 5:22pm
Location: Derby.
Outfit: Karsten 350+Awnings
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I'm under the impression that the Igloo passive boxes are a decent quality, and oft described as "A 5 day cool box"?
Assuming it at least compares with the coleman xtreme we used to use (rumour has it the igloo's are even better?), with the right sort of pre-cooling regime before setting off, there's a very good chance it will cope fine for 5 days in a UK summer.
Obviously depends precisely how you use it, and what you have in there, and of course may be reliant on there not being a freak heatwave when you go, but generally speaking, 5 days is do-able, and at worst, add a bag of ice cubes every other day.
Have to say, we do prefer our compressor fridge (quiet enough for us through the night), but not sure we'd have gone to that expense if remaining in The UK. Bought it specifically to cope with South of France, albeit in September, but still glad we got it.
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2024: 38 nights thus far...
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From July 2012: 23 nights
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via mobile 25/3/2021 at 5:10pm
